Fantasy hockey guide: These are the goalie matchups to exploit

Two steps forward and one step back for Ullmark in his quest to be a steady fantasy option. After impressive wins against the Maple Leafs and Bruins, he coughed up -6.2 fantasy points to the ... checks notes ... Flyers? I think I want Ullmark on my roster, but I don't know that I would be ready to start him every week just yet. That's probably a widely shared feeling at this stage.

Pittsburgh Penguins in 20 games (five last week):

• Alex Nedeljkovic (crease share season/week: 50.0%/71.9%, fantasy points season/week: 0.6/1.4, 97.6% available)

• Joel Blomqvist (crease share season/week: 34.3%/4.2%, fantasy points season/week: 9.4/-5.0, 98.5% available)

• Tristan Jarry (crease share season/week: 15.7%/23.9%, fantasy points season/week: -11.4/-3.4, 78.7% available)

Hey, Jarry's back! He got lit up by the Blue Jackets. Blomqvist is back in the AHL. Moving on, nothing to see here.

San Jose Sharks in 20 games (five last week):

• Mackenzie Blackwood (crease share season/week: 55.4%/65.7%, fantasy points season/week: 21.0/3.8, 94.4% available)

• Vitek Vanecek (crease share season/week: 44.6%/34.3%, fantasy points season/week: 2.6/0.6, 99.3% available)

• Yaroslav Askarov (no games yet, 94.0% available)

The door is wide open for Askarov to stake his NHL claim that he wanted an opportunity badly enough to force a trade out of Juuse Saros' shadow this past offseason. The Sharks started him in the AHL, where he's posted a sterling 1.92 goals-against average with two shutouts across nine games. With Vanecek injured, Askarov has been called up. The Sharks aren't exactly a hub for fantasy goaltending from the crease, but they are scoring enough to give a goaltender a fighting chance. If you are hurting in the crease in redraft, scooping him to your bench now is the play. If you are in a keeper league, he's probably already rostered.

Vancouver Canucks in 17 games (four last week):

• Kevin Lankinen (crease share season/week: 75.7%/74.5%, fantasy points season/week: 31.2/0.4, 34.3% available)

• Arturs Silovs (crease share season/week: 24.3%/25.5%, fantasy points season/week: -8.6/7.6, 97.3% available)

• Thatcher Demko (no games yet, 16.9% available)

The latest reports out of Vancouver have Demko's return on the horizon. That means you need to check to see if you are in one of the 17% of leagues that has him available. It also means you need to prepare to make alternate arrangements if you've been leaning on Lankinen for fantasy points.

Power-play notes

Jackson Blake, RW, Carolina Hurricanes (available in 99.5% of ESPN Fantasy leagues): Replacing the injured Seth Jarvis on the top power-play unit, Blake could stick around given the roaring success. The top unit has four goals in its past three games. Opponents are also giving them a lifetime on the advantage, with 16:25 across those three games resulting in 37 shot attempts to generate those four goals. But the point is that Blake was there for all four of them.

Alex Vlasic, D, Chicago Blackhawks (70.6%): With Seth Jones out week-to-week, Vlasic got 1:15 of ice time as the top-unit quarterback on Saturday against the Canucks. For now, first-round pick Artyom Levshunov has been left in the AHL (where the recently turned-19-year-old has five points in nine games). Levshunov would be the jackpot if called up, but don't turn your nose up at the payout from Vlasic. He's already fantasy relevant thanks to his blocked-shot prowess.

Alex Tuch, RW, Buffalo Sabres (13.9%): Filling in on the top unit for an injured Tage Thompson, the group with Tuch managed 3.88 shot attempts per two minutes and came away with two goals in 5:09 total ice time across the past three games. Not so fast, though, as now Tuch looks questionable for Wednesday's tilt. The success with Tuch as part of the group could spur some changes when everyone is healthy again.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Vancouver Canucks (98.3%): With Boeser sidelined for the medium-term, Lekkerimaki has been handed his role on the top power-play unit and in the Canucks top six. The fantasy results aren't there yet, but the 20-year-old is just getting his feet wet at the NHL level. This kind of role, with plenty of access to J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, should be a productive one.

Nicolas Roy, C, Vegas Golden Knights (94.8%): If Mark Stone's status remains questionable, we could get an extended window for Roy to be in fantasy lineups. Like Lekkerimaki, he's been elevated to both the top six and top power-play unit due to injury.

Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames (23.1%): The Flames power play is in a funk. So much so that the team experimented with moving Kadri off the top unit against the Predators last Friday. Both units boosted their shot attempts rate in the contest, though neither broke through to score. Twelve of Kadri's 22 power-play points last season came in March and April. Hopefully, he isn't making us wait that long again. He is flirting with droppable territory at the moment.

Marco Kasper, C, Detroit Red Wings (99.6%): In the past three games, Kasper has averaged only 0:41 of power-play time, the majority of which was not with the top-unit players. In that time, he's been on the ice for four power-play goals, earning himself three PP points. If Patrick Kane doesn't pick up his pace on the top unit, it looks like Kasper is pushing for more time there.

Jake Walman, D, San Jose Sharks (71.9%): Both Walman and Timothy Liljegren each took a turn with the top unit in the past two games and each produced a goal on the advantage. With similar total ice time, the shot attempts with Walman as the quarterback (11) were more than double when Liljegren was on the ice (five).

Artturi Lehkonen, LW, Colorado Avalanche (28.4%): At least for now, Lehkonen held onto his top-unit spot through the return of both Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin.